Hurricane Ian continued gaining strength as it barreled towards Florida's coast on Wednesday, reaching top winds of 250 km/h. The Category 4 storm bombarded the US state's heavily populated coastline with wind and rain as it prepared to make landfall..The US National Hurricane Center in Miami said Hurricane Ian was centred about 100 kilometres west-southwest of Naples at 7 a.m. eastern time. It has warned of “life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding in the Florida Peninsula.".The hurricane prompted warnings of a dangerous storm surge along the state's coastline, stretching from Bonita Beach to the Tampa Bay region. "90% of your fatalities in these tropical systems come from the water. it's the storm surge, it's the rain," said National Weather Service Director Ken Graham..Millions of Floridians living on the coast are now under evacuation orders, as the region is expected to be the most heavily hit by the hurricane..Early Wednesday afternoon, footage taken in Fort Myers, a city on Florida's west coast, showed brutally high winds and completely flooded streets. It's been reported the city of more than 85,000 could see storm surges of over eight feet..Around the same time, another clip emerged of a storm surge in Naples, a coastal city of nearly 20,000.."Take the precautions to protect yourself and your family," Florida Governor Ron Desantis warned Floridians on Tuesday. "Mother Nature is a very fearsome adversary, and it's not something that you want to test. When you have massive storm surges that could get up to 12 feet, that's something that's life-threatening and you have to take seriously.".DeSantis warned millions of people will lose power in the state within the next 48 hours. But he said between all of the state's utility companies, more than 30,000 personnel are standing by to bring power back to communities..Desantis said on Wednesday he's not yet spoken with US President Joe Biden about Florida's storm preparations. "I'm happy to brief the president if he wants to hear what we're doing in Florida," he said.."My view on all this is, you've got people's lives and property at stake. We don't have time for pettiness," Desantis said of the president. "So my phone line is open.".In response to the incoming storm, Airports in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Key West closed. Disney World theme parks and Sea World in Orlando have also shut their doors ahead of the hurricane..Ian could also cause flooding rains and a coastal surge in the states of Georgia and South Carolina. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp pre-emptively declared an emergency, putting 500 National Guard troops on standby .Before heading towards Florida, Ian also struck the nation of Cuba with 205 km/h winds. The storm resulted in two deaths on the island, as well as the destruction of its world-famous tobacco belt..When Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited the affected region, he told the local population, "although the first impact is very painful, there's nothing to do but overcome the adversity."
